Prior to his transformation into the Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust or any of a half dozen personas that he's taken on throughout his career, David Bowie was just another art student struggling to make the leap to fame and fortune. THE DERAM ANTHOLOGY is a fascinating look into the early workings of a legendary artist. Bowie's mucking about for a hit included Anthony Newley-influenced numbers ("Rubber Band"), a novelty song ("The Laughing Gnome") swinging London lounge ("Love You Till Tuesday") and pale imitations of early Pink Floyd ("She's Got Medals.") Other more notable attempts to distinguish these numbers included adding lots of orchestration ("The London Boys"), weather-related sound effects ("Please Mr. Gravedigger") and kitschy banjo and clavinet arrangements ("Did You Ever Have A Dream"). After spending almost two years recording and watching his singles get roundly ignored by the public, Bowie started forming his unique style upon working with new producer Tony Visconti in late 1967 (This association would last another 13 years). Some of the earliest numbers of these sessions included the psychedelic folk of Bowie's mixed media trio Feathers on "Ching-A-Ling," the baroque grandiosity of "When I Live My Dream" and an early version of "Space Oddity," which is where it all started.